Women"s British Open: Jiyai Shin wins to make Asian record

Shin the star at Hoylake as Asian grip on women's golf extends to all four majors

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UPDATED:

20:58 GMT, 16 September 2012

Fourteen years was all it took for golf in the Far East to go from Asia minor to Asia major.

Fourteen years after Se Ri Pak became the first Asian to win a major championship, her Korean compatriot Jiyai Shin completed an overwhelming nine-shot victory in the Ricoh British Open at Royal Liverpool on Sunday that symbolised the region's complete domination of women's golf.

Not only have Asian golfers now completed the Grand Slam this year, they have won the last seven majors in succession.

Champion: Jiyai Shin celebrates with the trophy and on the green (below)

Alongside the brilliant Taiwanese
Yani Tseng, the driving force, of course, has been the Koreans, where
producing a good woman golfer seems to be the primary ambition for many
households.

Shin completed her victory with one of the great performances in the recent history of this event.

It is never easy to follow up a
great round, and on Saturday she scored 64, hitting all 18 greens in
regulation to record the lowest total seen in competition on this, the
most historic course in England.

Yet Shin never broke her stride on
Sunday during the course of the final 36 holes played out in conditions
that varied from the benign in the morning to the frightful during
mid-afternoon.

Runner up: Inbee Park came second at Hoylake

As the wind blew and the rain came in
sideways, the championship was reduced to ridicule when play was
suspended for a short time for no obvious reason, and contrary to the
rules of the game.

The master commentator Peter Alliss mixed mirth with indignation.

'Yes we know it's miserable, but you can't stop play because it is miserable,' he said.

When one player seemingly carried on
before the hooter sounded to signal play could continue, he added: 'Why
not play when you like, and dole out some prize money at the finish'

Away we go: Shin tees off on the 15th hole

A poor tournament for the British contingent had two small bright spots.

Scot Catriona Matthew, the 2009
champion, shot 75 to squeeze into the top 10 and Holly Clyburn, 21, from
Cleethorpes, came within two strokes of finishing as the leading
amateur.

Meanwhile, at the Italian Open,
Martin Kaymer picked a timely moment to turn in his first top five this
season, finishing with two 67s in his last event before the Ryder Cup.

Team-mate Nicolas Colsaerts finished alongside him in fifth spot of an event won by the Spaniard, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.